Northern Illinois University Foundation

Northern Illinois University Foundation

The Northern Illinois University Foundation dates to 1949, when it was established as an independent 501(c)(3) to solicit, invest, and steward private gifts in support of NIU. Catherine B. Squires serves as president and CEO, overseeing an operation that merged with the NIU Alumni Association during fiscal 2021 — consolidating alumni engagement and fundraising under a single entity. The foundation's primary beneficiary is Northern Illinois University, a public research institution in DeKalb, Illinois, and its wealth originates entirely from philanthropic contributions by alumni, corporate partners, and friends of the university. The foundation's investment approach allocates endowment assets across a diversified portfolio that includes buyout funds, venture capital (from seed to late stage), distressed debt, growth equity, secondaries, and natural resources. It also holds direct real estate assets, including the Barsema Alumni & Visitors Center at 2031 Miller Road in DeKalb and a parcel in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The foundation participates as a limited partner in external funds while also making direct co-investments. Confirmed philanthropic co-investors include the Baustert Family Foundation, which in 2023 provided a historic $40 million lead gift earmarked for a planned Health Technology Center, and the CME Group Foundation, which supports student scholarships. This gift from the Baustert family represents the largest single donation in NIU's history and substantially bolsters the foundation's deployment capacity for health-related capital projects and academic programs. The foundation's most significant recent operational inflection point was absorbing the NIU Alumni Association in fiscal 2021, a structural move that eliminated redundancies between the two organizations. Board governance includes business leaders such as Brent Brodeski, CEO of Savant Wealth Management. The foundation maintains professional network ties through the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), while NIU itself participates in the Illinois Innovation Network as a hub member. Total assets under management are not publicly reported, but Altss estimates the endowment stands at roughly $112 million based on available tax filings and gift announcements. The foundation also serves as the corporate parent for the Northern Illinois Research Foundation, a separate entity that administers sponsored research and technology transfer for the university. The foundation's defining structural feature is its status as a university-affiliated but legally independent entity — a common architecture for public university foundations that insulates donated assets from state budget pressures while keeping them dedicated exclusively to NIU's mission. The 2021 merger with the alumni association eliminated the friction that historically existed between fundraising and alumni relations, creating what is now a single advancement engine. Succession planning for Squires, who has led the foundation for over a decade, and stewardship of the Baustert gift will be the two operational narratives that shape the foundation's next chapter.